EXECUTIVE Secretary of the PPP/C,  Zulfikar Mustapha, says that while there is evidence of progress and rapid development in the City of Georgetown, “the Mayor and City Council seem to be living and operating in a different time period.”

Mustapha, who on Monday met with members of the media during a party press briefing, said that there is no doubt that the economic scale of Georgetown has rapidly expanded over the past few years. However, he declared: “Citizens cannot be made to suffer because of the lethargic approach of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.”
According to the PPP/C Executive Secretary, despite the high levels of support to the municipality by central government and the accompanying relief on the council’s budget, there seems to be little or no effort to focus its resources, at the very least, on effective garbage collection.
“Rather we continue to hear all manner of excuses by Mayor Hamilton Green to deflect from the failure of City Hall and rather than deal with the issue which affects citizens of Georgetown, he seems rather content on engaging in a running battle with the acting Town Clerk regarding who has more power in the council.”
Mustapha told media operatives that the party is aware that the Ministry of Public Works has almost single-handedly taken over responsibility for all the road infrastructure works in the city, while workers from the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority continue to work in several areas of the capital.
“We observed that last weekend, extensive drainage and removal of debris along the road shoulders of Mandela Avenue were done by the Ministry of Public Works….Added to this is the support provided by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development where only recently a garbage truck was handed over to the council.”
Speaking on behalf of the ruling party, Mustapha said: “As we all wait on City Hall to get its act together; we encourage the various government ministries to continue their assistance to Georgetown.”
Local Government Minister, Ganga Persaud, who also addressed the media on the state of Georgetown and the operations of its council, said that the citizens of Georgetown continue to suffer at the hands of the mayor and cohorts, even as they pay their due taxes.
According to Minister Persaud more than 80 per cent of those required to pay taxes to the council last year would have been faithful to their obligations.
Persaud said that it is an indisputable statement of fact that the state of the city is not only a cause for concern for those who dwell in it “but for all of us as Guyanese, we have always been known as a people who embraced environmental cleanliness.”

Serious Indictment
The minister called the current state of affairs a serious indictment on the municipality of Georgetown.
“The city led by Mayor Green would wish to lead us to believe that the city is in a situation for which himself and council has no responsibility…He would wish to lead us to believe that the near $3B collected in rates of taxes last year was inadequate.”
Government, he reminded, pays in excess of $150M for the state- owned buildings in the city. “What is happening to these resources?”
Not one pothole has been repaired in the city, according to the government official, adding that Green has presided over a council that has astronomically added to the troubles of the people of the city.
He said that more and more central government is finding itself having to assume the responsibilities of the council such as the repairs of infrastructure and drainage.
Minister Persaud highlighted also that the City Constabulary is failing to effectively enforce the laws under its remit and when it is done, it happens selectively.
“Or are they being used to extort and to increase their personal incomes?” asked Minister Persaud in relation to the selective enforcement of the laws.